Variable speed transmission



March 1, 1932. c. c. DE PEW VARIABLE SPEED TRANSMISSION Filed May 15, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 1, 1932. c. c. DE PEW 1,847,553

- VARIABLE 5mm TRANSMISSION Filed May 15, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Mar; 1, 1932' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE enema o. m: raw, orxnrronm'nnw .Tmzsm, assrenon 'ro nnnouanmn PLANE a moron comm, nc, a oonronarron on NEW YORK -VABIAB1|E srnnn r mnsmssron Application Med May 16, 1880. Serial No. 452,646.

This invention relates generall riable speed ower transmissions o the friction type, an more particularly to apparatus of the class disclose in PatentNo. 1,698,229 5 issued to Frank A. Hayes on January 8, 1929, in which one rotatable disk or element is driven from another bymeans of interme-' diate frictional driving elements designated as wheels that are mounted in carriers; to said carriers being rotatably mounted on an .axis perpendicular to the wheel'axis and adapted to be shifted longitudinall of their own axes in a manner as to cause. t 1c wheels to be angularly displaced from a low speed 15 position towards high speed and vice versa, this angular displacement being the result of a certain degree of side thrust imposed upon the wheels b the rotation of the disks across the plane the wheels at the point of 20 contact when the axes of the wheels are moved out of the plane of the disk axis. In the structure of the above mentioned patent provision is made for the automatic control of s eed change by a fluid vpressure 25 means and t ere is also rovlded a manual control whereby the whee may be actuated as stated in order to bring into effect any desiredspeed ratio.

In the present invention the wheels and g g :0 carriers are constructed and mounted in a manner similar to that of the patent mentioned, but a 'new and novel control means is provided that is responsive to the centrifugal forces which are engendered-to a greater orlesser degree by the speed of the driven member; said speed being governed by the amount of load encountere which accordingly controls the driving ratio of the mechamsm making it entirely automatic in operation. a I An object'of the invention is to provide a simple and compact mechanism for the urpose set forth that is composed of o y a small number of eIements, thus obviously reducin the cost of manufacture and also the ten ency towards non-functioning of the device from failure of theparts. I

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying draw of one 4 invention.

speed position.

in their carriers 25, 26 and 27.

ings and a careful consideration of the following fparticular description and claims rm of mechanism embodying my In the drawings v Figure 1 is a cross section of the present invention taken on the line 11 of Fig. 3 showing the parts as in a low speedposition. 7

Figure 2 is a cross section similar to that of Fig. 1, showing the parts as in a-high Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the device in the low speed osition.

With reference to the rawings, 10 designates a power shaft driven from a prime mover (not shown) and 11 the driven shaft which ma be connected to a meansto be operated, in any suitable manner. e

To the shaft 10 there is secured as by the screws 12, a disk 13 and a further disk 14 is disposed in cosaxially spaced relation to the first said disk, both the disks being floatingly mounted on the shaft 11 between the thrust bearings 15 'and 16. These disks are provided on their inner faces with annular grooves 17, 18 of circular cross section, by means of .which the disks are drivably en- -a ed by the friction elements or wheels 19, 20 and 21 that are mounted for rotation In the space between the disks 13 and 14 there is disposed in, fixed relation with the shaft 11 a suitable cage or spider 28 by'which the wheelv carriers areoperatively supported in a manner presentlyto be descr bed.

On the spider 28, and remote from the center thereof, are attached in an oscillatory manner, the carrier supportin elements 30, 31 and 32 which are provide with cupped portions 33, 34 for the reception of the sp erical ends 35 of the wheel carriers. It will be seen from the structure just described that the carriers 25, 26 and 27 are adapted to be moved axially in unison to a limited extent as governed by the sto s 29, and rotationally in either direction to t e extent of which the sto s 36 and 37 will permit.

he oscillating carrier supportin elements 30, 31 and 32 are also each provi ed with a 100 weightediportion 40 extended substantially away from the pivot point 41 so as to be highly responsive to any centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the spider 28 which will re- '5 Suit in the carriers being moved ax ally if the rotational'speed is sufficiently high to overcome the predetermined power of the springs 42, 43 and 44 which are connected at their opposed ends to the oscillating elements and the spider respectively.

A suitable normally disengaged brake member 45 is provided so that the disk 14 may be engaged and held against rotation, and a 5 yieldable pressure means such as the spring 46 may be brought to bear upon the frictionally engaged elements to create driving engagement under load. a

The operation of the device is as follows -With reference to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen that the springs 42, 43 and 44 at low speed of operation will tend to maintain the carriers 25, 26 and 27 in a position where the axis of wheel is disposed to the right hand side of the vertical plane of the disk axis, with the axis of the other wheels 19 and 21 disposed correspondingly, as shown by the'dotted center lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and accordingly, the resulting rotation of the disk 14 across the plane of the wheels will tend to rock the carriers on their axes so that the wheels are maintained adjacent the axis of the driving disk 13 (Fig; 3) whereby the disk 14 will be caused to idle on the shaft 11 clutch is disengaged.

-VVhen it is desired to drive the shaft 11, th brake member is actuated so as to engage the disk 14 and restrain the rotation thereof vwhich will result inthe spider 28 and the shaft 11 being driven through the friction 1 wheels in a manner common to planetary drives. The low speed position of the carriers and wheels will be maintained as long as the rotational speed of the spider does not become sufliciently high so that the tendency of the weights 40 to moye outwardly becomes forceful enough to overcome the predetermined spring means. Should however the speed of the spider be increased beyond the prescribed limit, suflicient centrifugal force will be generated so that the weights will gradually overcome the spring means and the carriers will be-moved longitudinally of their axes in a left hand direction as shown by the center lines in Fig. 2. As this longitudinal 9 movement occurs, the carriers will be rocked on their axes and the wheels moved laterally towards the high speed position at a rate dependent upon the acceleration of the'driving shaft 11;

Should an overload occur, the speed of the driven shaft ll will be naturally retarded and the centrifugalforce upon-theweights will accordingly become less effective to overcome is proposed in order that suificient pressuresion, the combination of a pair of coaxial at low speed, assuming of course that the the spring calibration and'as a result, the

scope of the invention andportions of the improvements may be used without the others, whilst not departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a variable-speed friction transmission, the combination of a pair of coaxial disks rotatably mounted, a frictional drivin" wheel therebetween mounted in a rotatab e manner; said wheel being adapted for displacement of its axis laterally across the plane of the disk axis and free for angular movement by the disks when so displaced, and centrifugal means responsive to rotation in a manner as to displace the wheel axis as stated.

2. In a variable-speed friction transmisdisks rotatably mounted, at least one frictional driving wheel therebetween supported in a mounting rotatable on an axis perpendicular to the wheel axis; said wheel being adapted for displacement of its axis across the plane of the disk axis and free for angular deflection by the driving action of .at least one of said disks when so displaced, centrifugal means responsive to rotation in excess of a predetermined amount in a manner as to displace the wheel axis as stated, and yielding means subordinate to said centrifugal means to return said .wheel to its initial position when rotation falls below the prescribed amount.

3. In a variable-speed friction transmission, the combination of a pair of coaxial disks, a friction wheel between said disks having its edge in frictional driving contact therewith, a carrier for the wheel mounted on an axis perpendicular to the wheel axis, and centrifugal means responsive to rotation in a manner as to shift said carrier longitudinally of its axis.

4. In a variable-speed friction transmission, the combination of a pair of coaxial disks having inner faces in the form of annular grooves of circular cross section, a friction wheel between said disks having its edge in frictional driving contact with the slirfaces of said grooves, a carrier for said wheel mounted for rotation on an axis perpendicular to the wheel axis, and centrifugal means responsive to rotation in a manner as to shift said carrier lon itudinally of its axis.

5. In a varia le-speed friction transmission, the combination of a pair of coaxial disks having inner faces in the form of annular grooves of circular cross section. a frictionv wheel between said disks having its edge 1 0 ac disks having inner faces in t in frictional driving Contact with the surfaces of said grooves, a carrier for said wheel mounted on an axis perpendicular to the wheel axis and movable longitudinally of its own axis, a support for the carrier rotatable aboutthe axis of the disks, centrifugal means mounted upon said support and responsive to the rotation thereof so as t6 move the carrier lon itudinally of its axis and rotationally by he force exerted on the wheel by at least one of said disks when the carriers are so moved longitudinally.

6. In a variable-speed friction transmission, the combination of a air of coaxial disks having inner faces in t e form of annular grooves of circular cross section, a plurality of friction wheels between said disks arran ed about the disk axis and havin their e gesin frictional drivmg contact with the surfaces of said grooves, a carrier for each wheel mounted for rotation on an axis perpendicular to the wheel axis, and means responsive tocentrifugal force and common to all of said carriers to shift the same lon 'tudinally of their axesawhen their rotationa speed around the disk axis exceeds a redetermined amount.

In a variable-speed sion, the combination of a friction transmispair of coaxial e form of an.- nular grooves of circular cross section, a friction wheel between said disks having its edge in frictional drivingcontactwith the surfaces of said grooves, a carrier for said wheel] mounted for rotation on an axis perpendicular to the axis of the wheel, means for normally holding the carrier with the axis of the wheel to one side of the plane of the disk axis, and centrifugally actuated means adapted to shift the carrier longitudinally of its axis across the'plane of the disk axis when its rotational speed around the disk axis exceds a predetermined amount.

8. In a variable-speed frietion transmission', the combination with a pair of coaxial disks and frictional driving members therebetween adapted for limited movement of their axes across the plane of the disk axis, of a mounting for said friction members comprising yielding means normally tending to maintain the axes of said friction members to one. side of said plane, and centrifu al m'eansresponsive to rotation in exc o a predetermined amount to overco e said yielding means and cause the axes of the friction members to cross the axis plane of the disks.

9. In a variable-speed transmission, the combination of a pair of coaxial disks having inner faces in the form of annular grooves of circular cross section, a drive shaft on which saiddisks are fioatingly mounted, a

lurality of friction wheels between said isks having their edges in frictional driving contact with the surfaces of said grooves,

a predetermined amount to move said car-' riers lon itudinally of their axes and rotatlorially y the force e'xerted'on said wheels by at least one of said disks when the carriers are so moved, and means to restrain the rotation of oneof said disks. A

10.. In a variable-speed friction transmission, the combination of a airof coaxial disks having inner 'faces in t e form of annular grooves of circular cross sectionJa plurality of friction wheels between said disks having their edges in frictional driving contact with the surfaces of said grooves, a carrier for each wheeha support for the carriers, means pivotedon said support and adapted to engage the ends of the carriers in a manner as to permit axial motion there-- of in a direction transverse of theplane of the disk axis and rotational movement on an ,axisperpendicular to the axis of its wheel, yielding means to normall maintain the wheel axis to one side of sai planein a low speed position, and centrifugal means ada t-. ed to overcome the yieldingmeans and e eetive, uponflsaid carriersin a manner as to 7 disks and an intermediate frictional driving ioo member having a natural tendenc for harmonious rolling contact. with sai disks, of a mounting for said member comprising a spring means ada ted to initially overcome said tendency an to restrain said member to a position where it will be sub'ected to the rotational side thrust of said isks in one direction, and centrifugal means responsive torotation beyond a predetermined amount to overcome said spring means in a manner as'to move said member in the plane of its rotation to a position where it will be subjected to rotational side thrust of the disks in the opposite direction. 12. In a variable-speed friction transmission, the combination with a air of disks and an intermediate frictional drivin memher having anatural tendenc for armo .nious rolling. contact with sai disks of anaxially rotatable mounting for said driving member comprising centrifugal means responsive torotation be 0nd a predetermined amountto overcome said tendency and move sion, the combination with a pair of coaxial,

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'- disks and frictional drivinig members "therebetween adapted for limitedmovement of their axes across the plane of the disk axis, of a mounting comprising yie ding'means tendin to maintain the axes of said friction mem ersin an 'im'tia1 position, and centrifugal means responsive torotation in excess of a predetermined amount to overcome said yieldingmeans and to movesaid friction members from their initial position across the axis plane of the disks.

Signed'at Keyport, in the county of Mon mouth, and State of New Jersey this 14th day of May 1930.

" CHESTER DEPEW for said friction members 

